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Syracuse Crunch's Mike Angelidis and P.C. Labrie will remain friends, but teammate time is in peril

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Syracuse Crunch forwards Mike Angelidis, left, and P.C. Labrie, right, have had a lot to shout about together the past four seasons. Here, they include Philippe Paradis in a goal celebration earlier this year.
(Scott Schild/SSchild@Syracuse.com)

Syracuse, N.Y. — Syracuse Crunch veteran forwards Mike Angelidis and P.C. Labrie have a long-standing relationship that allows them to lapse into hockey nostalgia at the drop of a puck.

After practice Thursday they were asked about their first season as teammates, with Norfolk in 2010-11. They easily re-lived an early game together, when both played well in a contest against Springfield.

"He was a huge human, a beast,'' Angelidis recalled of his first impressions of the 6-foot-3, 234-pound Labrie. "You could tell he was going to be a great guy. He's everything you wanted as a teammate. He was my kind of person. He knew when to play hard and when to have fun.''

The duo was the backbone of an Admirals team that won the Calder Cup in 2011-12. Angelidis was captain of the Crunch team that reached the Calder Finals last year, and although Labrie spent much of the season with Tampa Bay he also stuck around in Syracuse long enough to help set a winning tone here.

They've made a lot of memories like the one they so easily recounted on Thursday.

Soon, that may be all they have left.

After four seasons together in the Lightning organization, the best friends will both be unrestricted free agents this summer. Decisions about their futures are several weeks off, but it's possible the Lightning will let one or both go.

That's particularly true of Labrie, 27, who played on a one-way deal that paid him $625,000 this season. He disappointed both in Tampa Bay and Syracuse, going point-less in 13 games with the Lightning and producing just two goals and four assists in 36 games with the Crunch.

"I'm going to play hockey somewhere,'' Labrie said. "If they give me an opportunity to come back, for sure I want to come back. There's going to be a lot of big decisions for them.''

Angeldis, 28, might be the more likely candidate to return, especially if Tampa Bay wants a veteran example-setter for what should be another young team. The Lightning and Angelidis started talking about a 2013-14 deal by the time last season ended but Angelidis said there's been no such talk about a 2014-15 pact yet.

"I think change is good in certain situations,'' Angelidis said. "Sometimes the grass isn't always greener on the other side, either. My goal is to play in the NHL. I feel like I'm getting better every year. I feel I'm a late bloomer. It's my job to turn people's heads.''

But there's a timetable for that. Angelidis points out that each of his last three hockey stops — Owen Sound in the OHL, then Albany, then the Tampa Bay organization — has lasted precisely four seasons.

Hockey goes by quick. One minute you start, the next you're 4-5 years in,'' he said. "You have to enjoy it.

"It's sad. You make good friends, Everyone goes on, does their own thing. Wherever you go, you wish them the best. You keep in touch.''

Angelidis and Labrie expect that to be the case with their friendship, regardless of how the transition game impacts their hockey relationship.

"He's a part of the family,'' Angelidis said. "He's a good friend. I'd do anything for him and I know he'd do the same for me.''